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Radio Station Letterheads and QSL Cards-Page 1 |
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Shown here are a variety of broadcast band radio
station letterheads, brochures, reception verification cards ("QSL
cards"), stamps, and related material from the mid 1920's through
the late 1930's.
In the early days of broadcasting, listeners attempted to "log" as many stations as possible, and frequently wrote to the stations requesting confirmation of reception, giving details of the programming that was heard (see the complete WIP letter below). The responses gathered by one listener in Newark, NJ, and several others were preserved, and are shown here. As can be seen, many early broadcasting operations were outgrowths of other businesses, typically, newspapers, stores, manufacturers, and religious organizations. The call letters of some stations had special meaning, related to the location, business, or purpose of the station. Some of these are shown as well. |
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WIOD Letterhead "Wonderful Isle of Dreams" (1210 kHz, 1 KW) Miami Beach, FL, 1929 WIOD is currently broadcasting at 610 kHz, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, but still with only 5 KW power (news format). |
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KDKA Letterhead (980 kHz 50 KW), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1929 KDKA is currently operating at 1020 kHz (news/talk format). |
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KWK Letterhead (1350 kHz 1KW), St. Louis, MO, 1931 (Note the Western Electric 7A condenser microphone) |
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KYW/KFKX Letterhead (1020 kHz 5KW), Chicago, IL, 1929 KYW was originally a Westinghouse station in Chicago, the call sign moved to Philadelphia in 1934, though a Cleveland, OH station used the call for a period in the 50's and 60's. KFKX started operations in Hastings, NE, and is currently the call sign of the Hastings College radio station (FM only). KFKX was used by the Chicago station from 1928 through 1933, as seen on the letterhead above. |
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WENR Letterhead (870 kHz, 50 KW), 1929 The original WENR merged with WLS in 1941, and the call sign is now used by a station operating at 1090 kHz, 1 KW, in Englewood, TN. |
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WLW Letterhead (700 kHz, 50 KW), Cincinnati, OH, 1929 WLW is still operating in Cincannati, still at 700 kHz, news/talk format. |
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WIP QSL card from 1924, signed by one of the Gimbel Brothers |
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WIP "Watch It's Progress" (610 kHz, 500W), Philadelphia, PA, 1931 WIP is still at 610 kHz, 5 KW power, and is currently using an "all sports" format. |
